Kafta Skewers
Photo: Sara Dubler / Unsplash
Juicy minced lamb and beef mixed with lots of parsley, onion and Lebanese seven-spice, shaped onto skewers and grilled. Serve with warm pita, tahini sauce and a quick sumac onion salad.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Squeeze the onion
Put the grated onion in a clean cloth or in your hands and squeeze out as much liquid as possible; discard the liquid.
- 1 grated onion
✅ Done when: no more liquid comes out when squeezed
Mix the meat
In a large bowl, combine both meats with the squeezed onion, most of the parsley (set aside 1 tablespoon for the salad), garlic, seven-spice, salt, pepper and mint. Mix and squeeze with your hands for about 2 minutes until the mixture feels sticky and holds together.
- 300g minced lamb
- 200g minced beef
- 1 squeezed onion
- most of the bunch, reserve 1 tbsp parsley
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp seven-spice
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp mint
✅ Done when: mixture is sticky and holds its shape when pressed
Chill
Cover the meat mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes; cold meat is easier to shape. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water now.
- all meat mixture from step 2
- enough to cover the skewers water
✅ Done when: meat mixture is firm and cold to the touch
Shape on skewers
Wet your hands, take a handful of the meat mixture, and press it onto a skewer into a sausage shape about 12 cm (5 in) long, slightly flattened for even cooking. Repeat to make 8 skewers.
- all meat mixture from step 2
- a little, for wetting hands water
✅ Done when: all the mixture is shaped into 8 even skewers
Make the onion salad
Toss the sliced red onion with the , a pinch of salt and the reserved tablespoon of chopped parsley.
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 tsp
- pinch extra salt
- 1 tbsp reserved chopped parsley
✅ Done when: onion is evenly coated with sumac
Grill
Heat a barbecue, grill, or ridged grill pan until very hot. Cook the skewers for 4-5 minutes per side, turning once, until browned outside and no longer pink in the center.
- 8 shaped kafta skewers from step 4
✅ Done when: kafta is browned outside and reaches 71°C/160°F with no pink inside
Serve
Serve the hot skewers on warm pita bread with the onion salad and sauce.
- 4 pita bread and sauce
- all onion salad from step 5
Squeeze the onion
Put the grated onion in a clean cloth or in your hands and squeeze out as much liquid as possible; discard the liquid.
- 1 grated onion
✅ Done when: no more liquid comes out when squeezed
Mix the meat
In a large bowl, combine both meats with the squeezed onion, most of the parsley (set aside 1 tablespoon for the salad), garlic, seven-spice, salt, pepper and mint. Mix and squeeze with your hands for about 2 minutes until the mixture feels sticky and holds together.
- 300g minced lamb
- 200g minced beef
- 1 squeezed onion
- most of the bunch, reserve 1 tbsp parsley
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp seven-spice
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp mint
✅ Done when: mixture is sticky and holds its shape when pressed
Chill
Cover the meat mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes; cold meat is easier to shape. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water now.
- all meat mixture from step 2
- enough to cover the skewers water
✅ Done when: meat mixture is firm and cold to the touch
Shape on skewers
Wet your hands, take a handful of the meat mixture, and press it onto a skewer into a sausage shape about 12 cm (5 in) long, slightly flattened for even cooking. Repeat to make 8 skewers.
- all meat mixture from step 2
- a little, for wetting hands water
✅ Done when: all the mixture is shaped into 8 even skewers
Make the onion salad
Toss the sliced red onion with the , a pinch of salt and the reserved tablespoon of chopped parsley.
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 tsp
- pinch extra salt
- 1 tbsp reserved chopped parsley
✅ Done when: onion is evenly coated with sumac
Grill
Heat a barbecue, grill, or ridged grill pan until very hot. Cook the skewers for 4-5 minutes per side, turning once, until browned outside and no longer pink in the center.
- 8 shaped kafta skewers from step 4
✅ Done when: kafta is browned outside and reaches 71°C/160°F with no pink inside
Serve
Serve the hot skewers on warm pita bread with the onion salad and sauce.
- 4 pita bread and sauce
- all onion salad from step 5
The Story Behind the Dish
Kafta comes from the Persian word for 'pounded', because the meat was once beaten by hand in a stone mortar with onion and herbs. The dish spread across the Middle East, and every country made its own version.
In Lebanon, kafta is a family barbecue favorite. On weekends, grills are set up on balconies and in the mountains, and kafta skewers cook next to chicken and vegetables.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It is simple, very tasty and easy to make for a crowd, and the parsley keeps it fresh and juicy.
💡 Fun Fact
The same kafta mix is also baked in a tray with potatoes and tomatoes, a dish called kafta bil saniyeh.
Lebanon and the Levant
33.89°N, 35.50°E
Related recipes
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!